Head gear



Margh 25, 1947. R DELANO 2,418,069

HEAD GEAR Filed March 24, 1945 I INVENTOR. WILLIAM R. R DEL/4N0 readily and quickly adapted for use.

Patented Mar. 25, 1947 HEAD GEAR William R. P. Delano, Syosset, N. Y., assignor to Richard Delano, Inc., Setauket, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 24, 1943, Serial No 480,311

This invention relates in general to head gear and in particular to hats and helmets and to correlated improvements designed to enhance their characteristics and extend their uses.

It is customary in tropical regions to wear a hat or helmet adapted to insulate the head against the high temperatures produced by the suns rays. The most common hat for this purpose has been the so-called pith helmet which is formed of cork, pith or other light weight woods enclosed in a, fabric covering. Such helmets, while ailording a substantial degree of heat insulation, are char acterized by being relatively stiii and not resistant to handling. They are also relatively large in size and not capable of being collapsed or folded. Furthermore, in times of warfare, it is necessary to have the head protected by a metal helmet, but as such helmets are heatconducting and extremely heavy, it is difficult if not impossible to properly insulate the head when wearing such helmets. Moreover, metal helmets when used by marine troops, sailors and other amphibian assault troops must be capable of floating and should be light in weight to facilitate swimming. The present style metal helmet for such troops does not have these desirable characteristics.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide head gear which will be light in weight, heat insulating, and collapsible to relatively small sizes.

It is another object of the invention to provide so that it may be carried in the pocket and air space, and means are provided to inflate the hat by forcing air into such space. bodiment of the invention the head gear is formed In one emof two layers of air impermeable flexible sheet material divided into a multiplicity of air cells and means are provided to inflate and deflate the hat so that it may be collapsed to a small package to be carried in the pocket. In a second embodiment, the'head gear is in the form of a military helmet'in which the outermost layer is metal and the innermost'layer of the helmet is formed of aflexible sheet of air impermeable material, said layers being spaced and defining therebetween an air space and means are provided to 55 into tliespace Hi, the air will flow through the 2 Claims. (Cl. 27)

sive.

force air into said space to provide a heat insulating layer under the metal helmet, whereby the helmet is capable of floating.

For a more complete understanding of the natures and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of one embodiment of the head gear of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the head gear shown in Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a second embodiment of the head gear of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 2 it will be noted that in one embodiment the head gear comprises a sun helmet which consists of an outermost layer of air impermeable material I0 and an innermost layer of air impermeable material ll, said layers being shaped to form both the crown l2 and a wide extending brim l3 and the layers being sealed together at the outermost edges of the brim to form a seam 30 which confines an air space M between the layers In and H. The air may be passed into the air space M by means of a valve l5 which may be positioned at any suitable point, but in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the-valve is shown positioned at the top of the crown. Inorder to prevent complete deflation of the hat by leakage or accidental puncture, the

30 air space is preferably subdivided in both the area comprising the crown and the area comprising the brim. Such subdivisions can be readily provided by sealing the two layers Ill and II to each other along lines [6 radiating from the highest point of the crown where the valve is positioned and such seams extend also across the brim 13 along the lines II. If the sheet material is heat-sealable, such seams may be formed by heat-sealing, but with any sheet material, they may be formed by the use of adhesives and when fabric is employed, they may be formed advantageously by stitching with or without an adhe- As indicated in the vertical sectional view comprising Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, the valve I5 is surrounded by a circular air space 18 which, in turn, communicates with each of the cells formed by seams I6, I! and 30. The circular air space I8 is defined by a wall l9 which is provided with a plurality of one way air valves 20a of any well known or preferred construction, one of said valves being provided for each of the "cells formed by seams I6, IT and 39. Accordingly, when air isiorced through the valve [5 valves 20a in the wall 19 into the air space M in each of the cells formed'by the seams I6, I! and 36. When the air pressure has been built up to the point where the layers are fully distended, the brim will assume its proper shape owing to the fact that the brim shape shown in Fi 1 is the shape at which the air pressure is uniform in the-aircells of the brim. At the intersection of the brim and crown, there is provided a further wall 26 which is also provided with one way slit valves 26a, one of said valves being provided for each of the cells formed by the seams I6, I! and 39. The valves 20a and 26a may consist merely of a slit in the relatively thick walls I!) and 26, respectively, such slits permitting the passage of air from one side of each wall to the other side thereof when there isa-h.

substantial pressure differential, but substantially retardin the passage of air when there is a'low pressure differential on opposite sides of said wall. Accordingly, when itis desired to deflate the inflated air cells, the needle 22 in the valve I5 is manually depressed and the cells are subjected to pressure by exerting a squeezing or pressing action on the hat, whereupon the air will be forced through the slits 26a and a in the walls 26 and [9, respectively, and thus escape through the valve l5. In the case of a small leakage in one of the air cells or accidental punctures of one of the air cells, the leakage will be confined to the particular cell, or at the most to one cell of the brim and to one cell of the crown, but the collapse of these cells will not result in the loss of the shape of the hat since the air pressure in the remaining cells will be sufficient to maintain the hat in a distended condition.

It is to be understood that normally the hat will be inflated by mouth, but when a large number of troops are supplied with these hats, air, nitrogen or carbon dioxide from a high-pressure tank may be used to inflate such large number of the hats in rapid succession.

In order to provide for some air circulation over the top of the head, a few ventilation holes such as the holes 23 may be provided at spaced points in the crown. It is preferable that these holes be positioned along the lines of the seams where the two layers of sheet material are in contact.

The hat shown in Fig. 1 may be made larger than the'head and supported on the head by means of straps 24 which pass over the head and by means of a circular sweat band 25 which passes around the head. In this Way the inner layer ll does not rest directly upon the head of the wearer.

There is shown in Fig. 3 an embodiment of the head gear in the form of a trench helmet in which the outermost layer I0 is a sheet of shape-retaining metal, preferably formed of armor plate steel, while the inner layer H is sealed to the lower edge of the sheet Ill to enclose an air space therebetween. The air space defined between the steel helmet and the layer H may be subdivided into a multiplicity of separate air spaces radiating from the crown by sealing the sheet I l to the under surface of the metal helmet l0 along suitable lines radiating from the center of the top, as it is inadvisable in a. military helmet to have any opening in the steel cover. The valve l5 in this embodiment may be positioned in the sheet I! adjacent the lower edge of the helmet. There is also provided a circular air space extending completely around the lower edge of the helmet. A circular wall 26b surrounds and closes the lower ends of the air 'cells, and the space alkyd resins and the like. e

slit valves 2% with the circular air space 21.

Thus by blowing air in through the valve IS, the air space 21 at the lower edge of the helmet will be filled with air and the air will then pass through the several slit valves 26b into each of the separate air spaces defined by the sheet II and the steel cover ill. Accordingly, leakage or accidental puncture of one of the air cells will not cause complete deflation of all the cells. By so proportioning the volume of air confined between the sheet II and the steel cover 8 with the weight of the helmet the helmet may be rendered capable of floating even though it is inverted and filled with water.

In order to provide for ventilation of the head, the helmet may be made larger than the head and supported thereon by means of the head straps 24 and the sweat band 25, thus leaving an air space between the sheet H and the head. Both the hat shown'in Figs. 1 and 2 and the helmet shown'in Fig. 3 may be provided with a suitable chin strap 28.

In all of the embodiments above described, the air'impermeable sheet materials 10 and l l'may be formed of any non-porous, flexible, fibrous material or organic plastic pellicle. Among the fibrou materials, there may be used felts or fabrics coated to render them air impermeable by the use of such materials as cellulose derivatives, resins, rubber, bitumen, asphalt, wax and compatible mixtures of such materials. The coating materials may be applied to the felted fabric in a molten conditioner by dissolving them in a suitable solvent together with plasticizers therefor and applying the solution to the felt or fabric and thereafter evaporatingthe solvent. The sheets I0 and H may also be formed of flexible pellicles of organic plastic material such, for example, as film-forming cellulose derivatives, filmforming synthetic resins and rubber, both natural and synthetic, to which may be added suitable plasticizers to maintain the film in a flexible condition. It is also to be understood that'when the helmet of the type illustrated in Fig. 3 is to be used for non-military purposes, such as for shipyard workers, bridge construction, mining and the like, the sheet 18 of the helmet may be formed of a rigid shape-retaining material such, forexample, as a molded organic plastic, in particular a plastic formed by molding cloth or paper im pregnated with thermosetting resins such, for example, as phenol formaldehyde resins, melamine formaldehyde resins, furfural phenol resins,

:It is also to be understood that the head gear of the present invention is not confined to any particular shape, as the-invention is applicable for hats in general, helmets with and without brims, such as sun helmets, military helmets, trench helmets, field hats and-the like. a

When the head gear is in the form of flexible materials as in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the hat may be folded and used as a pillow or a head rest and in emergencies-may likewise be used as a life preserver or inverted for collecting rain water. A special advantage is that in the embodiment shown in Figs.- 1 and2, the article is extremely light in weight and collapsible so that in the collapsed form, it may be carried folded in the pocket. For use in tropical countries or on the desert, it is preferable that the outer surface of the hat be made white to provide the highest heat reflection. Another advantage is that the head gear will float, thus facilitating swimming or serving as a life preserver.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A hat comprising a crown portion and a brim portion, said crown and brim portions being formed of two continuous self-sustaining flexible films of gasproof organic plastic material, said films being sealed together at the edges of the brim and along lines radiating from the top center of the crown so as to divide the interior into a multiplicity of gas cells, and means to inflate said cells with a gas.

2. A hat comprising a crown portion and a brim portion, said crown and brim portions being formed of two continuous self-sustaining flexible films of gasproof organic plastic material, a circular wall disposed between said layers at the top 6 of the crown, said films being sealed together at the brim and along lines radiating from said circular wall to the brim so as to divide the interior into a multiplicity of gas cells, and means to inflate said cells with a gas.

WILLIAM R. P. DELANO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,247,961 Mulvey July 1, 1941 724,444 Curtiss Apr. 7, 1903 780,899 Mogridge Jan. 24, 1905 1,875,143 Punton Aug. 30, 1942 1,348,950 Kaminski Aug. 10, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 397,985 British Sept. 7, 1933 262,965 British Dec. 23, 1926 

